What is joystick-canvas?

Peripheral Mapper Studio, also called joystick-canvas, is a mapping and diagram tool for joystick, throttle, and other HID flight sim controllers, aimed at games like DCS World and Star Citizen. It generates visual diagrams of your button and axis layout, exporting them as PNG images, SVG schematics compatible with DCS World kneeboard formats, or JSON metadata that can be cross referenced with Star Citizen keybinding files. The tool can track how you actually use your controls over time and adjust dead zones and remap accidental button presses based on that usage pattern. It can coordinate input from multiple HID devices at once, resolving conflicts when two devices try to control the same axis, and generates a 3D interactive diagram of your current setup as an HTML file, or converts a raw HID data dump into a shareable SVG layout. Configuration is handled through a YAML profile file where you define each device, its axes with sensitivity and dead zone settings, and button mappings, plus separate mapping sections for DCS World and Star Citizen key combinations. There is also a command line tool for calibration, generating diagrams, importing HID dumps, and running continuous background monitoring that switches profiles automatically based on which game window is active. It includes an optional AI assisted module that connects to the OpenAI and Claude APIs to suggest macro sequences based on your play style and generate documentation for your keybindings. The interface and documentation are offered in 12 languages including English, Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, and Hindi. To run it you need Python 3.12 or newer with the hidapi and numpy libraries, at least 512 MB of RAM, and one or more HID compatible joysticks. Windows 10 and 11 are fully supported, Linux is supported in beta and needs udev rules configured, and macOS support is limited to USB pass-through only.